Reply to thread

Message

[QUOTE="billsin01, post: 201866, member: 837"]
OK, so the short answer is obviously 'no.' But this post from Upstate got me thinking about why we seem to be playing so many ugly, low-scoring games despite being flush with athletes and forcing a ton of turnovers.

My theory on the "annoying style" (which has been ugly and annoying) is that some of it has to do with the fact that SU's defense is simply really, really good and forcing many teams to use the whole clock just to try and find an open look.
 
The ability to force turnovers has something to do with this, but if you look at the last four years (I didn't feel like going further) you actually will find that this team is surrendering significantly fewer points despite not having [I]that[/I] dramatic an improvement in opponents FG percentage and turnovers forced (not even accounting for getting abused on the glass regularly).
 
[B]07-08[/B]
Opponents ppg: 74.3
Opponents FG%: .42
Opponents TO/g: 14.6
 
[B]08-09[/B]
 
Opponents ppg: 71.3
Opponents FG%: .41
Opponents TO/g: 14.4
 
 
[B]09-10[/B]
 
Opponents ppg: 66.4
Opponents FG%: .398
Opponents TO/g: 15.6
 
 
[B]10-11[/B]
 
Opponents ppg: 63.3
Opponents FG%: .394
Opponents TO/g: 14.0
 
 
[B]11-12[/B]
 
Opponents ppg: 60.8
Opponents FG%: .385
Opponents TO/g: 17.2
 
So what's the point? Well, obviously teams don't want to run with us if they don't have to (smart approach, IMO). They also are losing about 3 more possessions a game on average, which certain makes a difference. But I think a huge factor is that SU is not giving possessions away and once they set up their defense, teams have to work very hard to get a shot. In turn, this leads to teams running their offense the whole time but still chewing up 30 sec/possession and, by extension, shortening the game.
[/QUOTE]

Verification

What is a Syracuse fan's favorite color?